Annie Thorn is senior history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she is writing a weekly column titled “Out of the Zoo.” It focuses on life as a...
guns
The CPAC vocabulary. Defining terms.
I am teaching the American Revolution this semester. The other day, as we were reading and interpreting some primary documents, I asked the students to notice how the writers of these documents all seemed to use a similar political language....
The court evangelicals are making their final case for Trump
Robert Jeffress is saying that not voting is a “sin against God.” Does he mean not voting is a sin or not voting for Trump is a sin? I agree with the Falkirk Center and Tucker Carlson: I am still...
Is Jerry Falwell Jr. Leading a Secession Movement?
Last week we published a post on Jerry Falwell Jr.’s response to legislation proposed by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and the state General Assembly that would place restrictions on the purchase and use of firearms in the commonwealth. In that...
Falwell Jr. Doubles Down on His Promise of “Civil Disobedience” in Light of Virginia Gun Legislation and Says White Supremacists in Charlottesville Were Not Real
In Virginia, governor Ralph Northam and Democrats in the state General Assembly want to introduce legislation that would: Require background checks on firearm sales and transactions. Ban assault weapons. Allow Virginians only one handgun purchase within a 30-day period. Require...
A Tale of Two Marches on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Here is what happened in Richmond, Virginia with the full support of the president. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLJMoplaT2g&w=560&h=315] The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning....
Remembering the Michael Bellesiles *Arming America* Controversy
Twenty years ago an Emory University history professor named Michael Bellesiles published a book arguing that early Americans were not all that interested in guns until after the Civil War. The book, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, won...
Out of the Zoo: When Historians Ask “Why”
Annie Thorn is a sophomore history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan and our intern here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home. As part of her internship she is writing a weekly column for us titled “Out of the Zoo.” It focuses...
Marianne Williamson is Right. We Have a Gun Problem AND a Culture Problem
I am getting tired of the way the gun debate plays out in the wake of mass shootings. Everyone tries to score political points or use the deaths of innocent lives to advance their own agendas. For example, here is...
Free Scholarship on Guns in America
Earlier today we posted a syllabus on guns in America. One of our readers directed me to a Project Muse website called Muse in Focus: Addressing Gun Violence. Here is what it is all about: Gun violence remains a pervasive...
A Gun Studies Syllabus
The history website Bunk recently directed me to Caroline Light and Lindsay Livingston‘s “Gun Studies” syllabus at Public Books. Here is a taste: WEEK 1 “To Keep and Bear”: An Introduction to Gun Culture in the United States This week’s readings...
Candida Moss on “Thoughts and Prayers”
According to theologian Candida Moss, “thoughts and prayers” can be good things, but they alone cannot solve the gun violence problem in the United States. To suggest otherwise is bad theology. Agreed. Here is a taste of her recent piece...
Fox News Tackles My “Thoughts and Prayers” *Washington Post* Piece
Here is last night’s Shannon Bream show on Fox. Fast forward to the 36:40 mark to see court evangelical Robert Jeffress and radio host Ethan Bearman discuss my recent Washington Post article on the connection between abortion and gun control. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXJiYjsSIlo&w=560&h=315] I...
“Imagine if the Christian Right started offering mere ‘thoughts and prayers’ to end abortion”
Some of you read this post from yesterday. A condensed version of this post appeared today as an op-ed in The Washington Post....
When Does a Life Issue Demand Political Action and When are Just “Thoughts and Prayers” Enough?
In the wake of the El Paso and Dayton shootings, conservative evangelicals are offering lots of thoughts and prayers. Many of them are saying that we need to solve the problem of mass shootings through a spiritual reformation. The real...
Trump Has Failed to Stop the “American Carnage”
Conor Friedersdorf gets it right at The Atlantic: President Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address that the “American carnage” some in the nation were facing “stops right here and stops right now.” At his rallies, he speaks to supporters as...
This is What a Presidential Speech Looks Like in the Wake of El Paso and Dayton
From Barack Obama’s Facebook page today: Michelle and I grieve with all the families in El Paso and Dayton who endured these latest mass shootings. Even if details are still emerging, there are a few things we already know to...
The Disarming of New Jersey Quakers, 1776
Earlier today I was reading the Journal of the Votes and Proceedings of the Convention of New Jersey (Burlington, NJ: Isaac Collins, 1776). This is essentially the minutes of the New Jersey Provincial Congress) in the weeks leading up to and...
If Only Adam and Eve Had Guns…
The Onion tackles this question. A taste: HOUSTON—In what they described as scriptural evidence of the right to bear arms, leading figures among the religious right gathered Wednesday to issue a statement arguing that Adam and Eve would never have...
Christian Nationalists Love Guns
A team of sociologists have published a study arguing that those who believe America is a Christian nation are less likely to support gun control. Anyone who studies evangelicalism knows this instinctively, but thanks to Andrew Whitehead, Landon Schnabel and Samuel...